Interview by Qtube (QTV) on Ako Mismo
May 19
I had the pleasure of being invited to be a respondent/resource person for a feature being done by QTV’s QTube about the Ako Mismo Campaign. The guys came to my office last week and we did a quick interview about my thoughts on the project – more specifically what went wrong at the start and why I eventually decided to support the project and even sign-up myself. A few tidbits of what I said in the interview after the break.
What went wrong?
Like what I’ve said in my previous posts, the biggest flaw at the start was that the FAQ section wasn’t completed and there was no mention of who was behind the project. There were a lot of doubts about the sincerity of the program given that they used really high caliber endorsers for their creative materials. They eventually corrected this and put up an FAQ and a page on who’s behind the campaign (DDB Cares).
Why did I sign-up and support the campaign?
I’ve been in the arena of politics since I was born. It’s always been the older generations talking about politics and how to change the country. Even in the blogosphere, there are only a handful of young people who are talking about politics. This growing apathy has made it possible for corrupt government officials to keep on taking advantage of the flaws of the system, turning huge profits for themselves as the expense of the progress of the nation. Yes – there maybe some plan in the future to monetize this campaign, or even sell the information to whoever. But that’s the grim reality of business and we have to face that.
What I love about this campaign is that it got the attention of the Filipino Youth. Everything about it screams young – from the endorsers, to the medium used (internet), and the creative execution of the ads. For a few days, the internet was buzzing about this project, and bloggers from all ages and walks of life talked about the implications of a movement like this. And while they talked and wrote, their readers listened to them. Some decided to participate in the discussion. The mere fact that this campaign broke through the apathy, albeit negatively to some, is a huge achievement. I think DDB got a huge added bonus when their endorser, Maxene Magalona, decided to defend the campaign on her Facebook account. This showed a lot of people that the campaign was actually genuine.
Ako Mismo planted a seed on the minds of hundreds of thousands of potential youth voters. The next task now is for these people to make sure that they participate in the upcoming 2010 elections. As a suggestion to DDB, maybe you can include in your information campaign the registration and voting process for newbie voters? This is critical because we all know that the COMELEC already has their hands full with the automated voting that they’ll probably spend less time on new voter education.
That, in a nutshell, is why I decided to support the campaign. I hope you do so too.
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